One of my favorite reality shows is "Going Tribal" on the Discovery Channel. This is a true reality show, not a contestant show. It features Bruce Parry, a former Royal Marine, who travels to extreme and out of the way tribes and villages, and spends some time to get to know them and their way of life. If there is a time-table, you never know it. He seems like he could easily be in some places for a week, and others for several weeks.

The first episode I watched was one where he went to West Papua and lived with cannibals. He was confronted by them with many arrows pointed at his head, but after making peace and explaining his purpose through an interpreter, he lived with them for a little while. By the end of his trip, he seemed truly heart-broken to leave, and they thought of him as a brother. That is what is special about his journeys. He may not ever understand how they could engage in cannibalism, but he comes to understand and love them as people. He also participates with them to the fullest extent that he can.

The episode last night was with the Hamar people of Ethiopia. He was there for a male initiation. The women of the tribe are whipped, and though this greatly disturbed him and he never fully accepted it, he came to understand it. They feel that the women will take a whipping for their brother or son, and because of this, he can never deny them help. It sounds very barbaric, of course, but how different is it from feeling that you owe somebody who saved your life? The men then gather their cows, and the intiate jumps over them. Not only did he learn about the whipping and cow jumping, but he engaged in "women's work" to the delight of the children and women. This is common. He also often experiences what the men go through. In this episode he was given permission to jump the cows, despite it being a sacred ritual. Although he is often afraid, he never lets it get in the way. He has taken hallucinogenic drugs that are so powerful that they have been known to kill people. He will get tattooed or practice stick fighting, in order to experience what they do. Sometimes this leads to confusion. For example, jumping over the cows signifies that a male is ready to marry. After he jumped the cows, they felt he should marry there since he was now one of their tribe.

There are only 9 episodes over the first season and start of the second season. As you can probably tell, they cannot have many because he spends so long with each group.

If you have a chance, check out this fascinating show. It's a wonderful look at other parts of the world that most of us will never have the chance to visit.